June 14-16 Denali National Park & the Bears

June 14 - Not really a day of great note.  We checked out of the campground in Cantwell and backtracked 30 miles to the Denali National Park entrance.  After checking in we drove 29 miles to our campground, Teklinika.  We got settled and pretty much called it a day.

June 15 - We had purchased a bus ride through the park to Wonder Lake. We left our campground at 7:55 am and returned nat 4:40 pm.  Jane and Roger watched the girls for us and tomorrow we will watch their dogs while they take the trip. 

Right away we were watching for animals.  Our bus driver was very good at spotting them and then she'd stop so everyone could take pictures.  We hadn't been gone too far before we saw a small grizzley cub in the bushes.  Taking a picture was difficult at best.  A little further down the road we saw 2 wolves.  She said there are only about 70 to 100 wolves in the park so we felt lucky.

Not too much farther we saw Dall sheep on the hill but too far away for a good picture.  Next were caribou.

While we were searching for animals we saw lots of beautiful scenery.  As we approached the Eliason Visitor Center our driver said that we were not to get out of the bus because there were grizzlies on the steps of the visitor center.  Eventually we able to get out and here they are.



Mother





They kept moving us back because the bears were getting closer and closer.

We continued on to Wonder Lake.  The purpose of going to Wonder Lake is to hopefully see Mt. McKinley (Denali).  It is only 40 miles from the lake. Unfortunately it was covered in clouds.  Only 30% of people who come to see the mountain (20,300 ft.) actually see it.

Gary at Wonder Lake

We all loaded back on the bus after fighting off mosquitos little knowing that on the way down we were in for a real treat.

About 3 or 4 miles from where we saw the bears at the visitor center we spotted them again.  This time they were very close.  Enjoy these pics.

Eventually they were so close they were rubbing against the bus.

Note the claws on her feet.



I took this one facing my camera to the ground outside the bus window.

Needless to say, that made our day, even if we didn't see the mountain.

On our way to the campground we had one more sighting. This big bear was just trudging down the riverbed.

The roads we were on were quite narrow and we never saw a guardrail.  When two buses passed each other they had to make sure their mirrors didn't hit.



June 16 - Today was our day to babysit Kovar's dogs.  We took time out for a little hike but didn't do much else.

If bears can walk in the riverbed, we can too.

A pretty little stream in the woods.